


Perchance

by liketogetlost



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-01
Updated: 2013-01-01
Packaged: 2017-11-23 05:25:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/618588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liketogetlost/pseuds/liketogetlost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The weight of the day remains wrapped around her neck and makes her muscles tense and burn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Perchance

**Author's Note:**

> Set after 2.02 'The Once And Future Queen'

The sound of the door shutting behind her seems to echo even in the confined space of the room. Gwen pulls her shawl from her shoulders and lets it slide down one arm before placing it on the table. The weight of the day remains wrapped around her neck and makes her muscles tense and burn. Exhausted, she neglects to light a candle, ready to to turn in.

She sits on the bed, blanket poorly pulled over it in an attempt to tidy up by Arthur before he left. It feels the same, but different. The thin mattress still sags, the posts still sing their same old creaky song, but she can't help shake the feeling of being in someone else's bed.

The sound of a horse galloping in the distance drifts past the window and Gwen sighs, standing to pull the blanket off the bed and replace it with another. As she lies down, she turns the pillow over and thinks of how quickly he realized the impossibility of his smile. 

She melts into a dream.

\--

With Arthur, it's as simple as locking Gwen's token away with his keys and hiding beneath his sheets to sleep.

“Bloody Merlin would probably toss it out with the rubbish, the idiot.” He mumbles into his pillow. But he's locked her away as well, locked the very possibility in his drawers like something fragile and important. Something to find and to ponder, later.

His bed feels odd. The mattress too thick and the blankets too heavy. He pounds his fist into his pillow and tosses and turns but all too quickly the moon wanes and harsh dawn approaches. His knuckles dig into his eyes to relieve the sensation of sand caught underneath his lids.

Merlin comes in, aggravatingly on time for once, ready to dress him for the day.

“Glad to be yourself again, sire?”

He grunts as Merlin laces his boots. It still feels as if it's yesterday.


End file.
